TWP: Madrid

Last weekend, six of the students went to Spain. Here is Page's write up about their trip to Madrid:

I knew I would be going on at least one large trip out of the country while studying in London. For a while there was much talk of going to Paris or possibly somewhere in Germany. I knew the girls of the group had talked about going to Spain but I didn’t think that plan was going to formulate. When I found out that it had, three of us guys spontaneously agreed to tag along. I was happy to go to Madrid because I had never been before. I had been to both Paris and Germany before, but Spain was somewhere new.

I studied French throughout high school, which was of little use to me in Spain. I knew very little Spanish and even less Spanish history. But these hindrances did not set me back at all. None of us who went spoke much Spanish, so Laura was the official translator for each of us. The rest of us together could make basic conversation and communicate well enough.

When we traveled during the day, Laura was our guide. She told us and led us to several great tourist attractions. Even though I don’t know too much Spanish history, the places we went didn’t require very much historical background. The Cathedral and palace we toured were amazing structures. The art museum we visited had both English and Spanish captions for all the art. The language of art, itself, is universal, so I was able to enjoy all of the works.

One of the coolest sites we came across was a small park with a fountain. It was really cool to me because there were two statues; one of Cervantez’s Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. I read Cervantez’s Don Quixote my freshman year. It was really cool to see a monument and recognizing it.

Overall, I really enjoyed going to Madrid. It was a great experience to go somewhere brand new and be thrust into a new culture. 

TWP: Stonehenge and Roman Baths

Page wrote about his impressions of Stonehenge and Bath in this TWP posting:


With modern technology, the strenuous jobs of yesterday become the easy tasks of today. A replica of Stonehenge could be built in a couple of hours today and natural hot spring baths have already been built all over the world. The fact that Stonehenge was built between 3.5 thousand to 5 thousand years ago is amazing.
Without giant dump trucks or cranes, it is a marvel as to how Stonehenge was constructed. The speculation of the use of simple machines and physics to haul and lift the 50 ton slabs of stone shows some of the earliest use of basic engineering. The innovative strategies used to complete the structure demonstrate the importance of advancing technologies. We are able to push the limits of yesterday by developing newer technologies.

The Roman baths were built approximately 2 thousand years ago. The innovations demonstrated in the construction of these baths are different than those demonstrated at Stonehenge. Stonehenge required the ability to haul extremely heavy objects, solved in part with various simple machines and brute force. The construction of the Roman baths required the ability to control and conduct the various natural springs. The baths are a prime example of how engineering had developed over a thousand years. Tasks were becoming more logic driven. This sort of engineering task could not be solved with blunt force. Today, most problems we face can’t be solved by blunt force either. In order to solve many of the tasks presented to us, we will have to strive to develop creative new solutions.

I really enjoyed being able to see both of these marvels not only for their natural beauty but from an engineering standpoint too. Although I am not a civil or structural engineer, I am still fascinated with the ways in which these two places were built.